Since the early days of man, there were gatherers, and then, there were the hunters. And although the origin of the hunter's adventures was one meant for survival, the innate character of mankind still thrived on the sport of the hunt. One of the earlier, and safer forms of the hunt, was fishing, also referred to as angling. Fishing has sporting roots as early as 2000 BC in which an ancient Egyptian angling scene depicts men with sticks and lines, as well as nets, seeking their prey. Today, angling as a sport is main-stream with fishing tournaments, sponsored anglers, fishing shows on primetime, and the like.
Another form of hunting that dates back to the Stone Age is bow hunting. The oldest arrow heads were discovered in Africa and were dated to be from before 25,000 BC. Scientists have theorized that the bow was created as an off-shoot of the spear-thrower. Somewhere around 25,000-18,000 BC, man began to use fire to further harden his stone arrowheads and added feathers to his arrows in order to improve accuracy. In approximately 2800 BC, the first composite bow was produced by the Egyptians. It was made from wood, tipped with animal horn and held together with animal sinew and glue. Unstrung, it resembled a “C” shape and would have required two people to string it. The bowstring was made from “catgut” (sheep intestines). The arrows used were extremely light, could be shot 400 yards using the composite bow and would easily penetrate the armor of that time period. The Egyptians used archers that would ride on the back of light chariots. These archers were highly trained and skilled and could easily outflank an enemy army with devastating effect.
It shouldn't be all that surprising, that given the adventurous and inventive nature of mankind, that eventually these two sports would be combined. Today, the popular sport of bowfishing has a national organization called the Bowfishing Association of America, which was originally established in 1990 to keep track of bowfishing tournaments in the United States, and which now lobbies for the rights to bowfish and promote the sport.
Bowfishing is a method of fishing that uses specialized archery equipment to shoot and retrieve fish. Fish are shot with a barbed arrow that is attached with special line to a reel mounted on the bow. Some freshwater species commonly hunted include common carp, grass carp, bighead carp, alligator gar, and paddlefish. In saltwater, rays and sharks are regularly pursued. An even more recent variation in the sport is aerial bowfishing in which the hunter shoots fish as they leap from the water.
Bowfishing equipment generally includes a bow, arrows, line, reels and glasses. Some of the bows used by bowfishermen are simple and do not include any sights—aiming is by line-of-sight judgment down the arrow. There are a couple of types of rests including the hook and roller rest. Most bows have little to no let off and not much draw weight. There are two main types of bows: traditional and recurve bows. The traditional bows are like long bows. In more modern times compound bows came into use. They use a system of pulleys to help the archer. Modern bows can have as much as 120 pounds (50 kg) draw weight. The crossbow is also sometimes used in the sport of bowfishing and has its own advantages including the use of a reel.
The arrows used in bowfishing are typically heavier and stronger than arrows used in other types of archery and are most commonly constructed of five-sixteenth inch fiberglass but, solid aluminum, carbon fiber, and carbon fiber reinforced fiberglass are also used. Bowfishing arrows generally lack fletching, as it can cause the arrow to flare to one side or another underwater and they are not required at the relatively short ranges associated with bowfishing. Line is attached to the arrow by tying the line to a hole in the arrow shaft or through the use of a slide system.
Bowfishing line is often made from braided nylon, Dacron, or Spectra. Commonly used line weights range from eighty to four-hundred pound test, with six-hundred pound test being used when bowhunting for alligators. Line color is normally either lime-green, white, or neon orange.
Three types of reels are commonly used in bowfishing: Hand-wrap, spincast, and retriever. Hand-wrap reels are the simplest reels; they consist of a circular spool that line is wrapped onto by hand and then secured in a line holding slot. When the arrow is shot the line comes free from the line holder and feeds off the spool. Fish are fought by pulling the line in hand over hand. Hand-wrap reels are the least effective at fighting arrowed fish, but they can be used in conjunction with a float system to shoot and fight large trophy fish. Retriever reels have a “bottle” which holds the line in place. When shot the line feeds out either until the shot goes too far and the line runs out or the hunter pushes down a stopping device which can be used to keep a fish from traveling out too far. Some retriever reels have slots cut in them and are known as slotted retriever reels. They are more commonly used for alligator, alligator gar, shark and other big game that will take more time to chase down than smaller game fish.
The glasses or sight enable a good visual of the target. To see the fish in the water on a sunny day, polarized lenses are helpful. The polarized lenses cut the glare on top of the water so it makes it easier to see what is below the surface. Different tints and lens colors make a difference in the color of water the hunter is fishing in, from darker brown to clearer blue and green. At night glasses are unnecessary, as light is used to see through the water.
Recently, bowfishing gear has incorporated the use of spinning reels, or open-faced reels. Spinning reels include a fixed spool and reels come in a variety of sizes and gearing ratios that can handle as little as 2-lb. test line up to 50-lb. test line. Spinning reels include handles for retrieving the line. The handles are threaded into sockets on either side of the reel's body. This allows the bowfisherman to swap sides for left- or right-handed operation. The angler rotates the handle to retrieve the line.
The reel includes a body, which is composed of a foot, a gear box housing and a support arm. The bodies are often made out of plastic, graphite or aluminum, with plastic being the most economical but not necessarily the most reliable. Of each of these materials, graphite is the lightest but aluminum is the strongest.
Inside the body is a gear box that is coupled to the handle and the spindle. The gear box is designed to amplify the number of spindle rotations for each rotation of the handle. A common gear ratio is three to one so that each rotation of the handle results in three rotations of the spindle.
Spools hold the fishing line and are typically made of anodized aluminum or graphite. The line is secured to the spool and is wrapped around its axis. The spool is rotated on the spindle by the gears when the line is retrieved and freely rotates during the cast.
Spinning reels typically include a drag system. The drag system refers to a set of washers that hold the spool to the shaft. An adjustment knob on the front of the spool is turned to increase or decrease the amount of friction, or drag, applied. By increasing the drag, more force is required to pull line from the reel when the line is being reeled onto the spool.
The bail is a semi-circular section of wire that is attached to the body on a hinged joint. The bail is flipped forward to release the line for casting. As the handle is rotated to retrieve the line, the bail is automatically flipped back to its starting position. Attached to the bail is a bracket wrap that moves with the spindle as it turns to ensure the line is evenly wrapped on the spool.
When engaged, the anti-reverse lever is designed to prevent the reel from rotating backward. When not engaged, the gear box can rotate in either direction.
Bow fishing most likely was not in the mind of primitive man as the arrows, which were hand-made were much too costly to risk losing in the water. Bow fishing is a method of catching fish that utilizes specialized archery equipment designed to not only shoot the fish without losing one's arrow, but also to allow for the retrieval of the fish. Fish are shot with a barbed arrow that is attached with a special line to a reel mounted on the bow or easily accessible to the archer.
The bows used in bow fishing are similar to the traditional bow but, traditionally have usually been very simple. Most of the bow fishing bows did not include sights and aiming was performed by line-of-sight judgment down the arrow. Most of the bows have little to no let off and not much draw weight. This differs with what one has available and personal preference. There are two main types of bows (a) traditional bows—long bows and (b) recurve bows. In more modern times, compound bows have been used. These compound bows use a system of pulleys to help the archer. Modern bows can have as much as 120 pounds (50 kg) draw weight.
The crossbow has also been used in bow fishing both from above the surface and below the surface of the water.
Bowfishing arrows are considerably heavier and stronger than arrows used in other types of archery and are most commonly constructed of five-sixteenth inch fiberglass but, solid aluminum, carbon fiber, and carbon fiber reinforced fiberglass are also used. Bowfishing arrows generally lack fletching, as it can cause the arrow to flare to one side or another underwater and they are not required at the relatively short ranges associated with bowfishing, but some archers still use fletching. Line is attached to the arrow by tying to a hole in the arrow shaft or through the use of a slide system.
The line used in bowfishing line is often made from braided nylon, Dacron, or Spectra. Commonly used line weights range from eighty to four-hundred pound test, with six-hundred being used when bowhunting for alligators. Line color is normally a bright color, such as neon orange, lime green and sometimes even white.
Most states allow bowfishing of the so-called “rough” fish. Those are suckers, eels, perch, gars, carp and the like. Gars and carp are the most popular and usually the most plentiful. Carp can be found in almost any body of water, large or small, year round. The best times are during the spawn in spring or after some good rainfall when the water in the shallows is deeper. The only things needed are bow, arrows, and waders. At times the fish can be so involved in spawning, the bowman can walk out among them and shoot. Some bowfishermen use field arrows so that they can just flip the fish onto shore without having to disengage the barbs to get the arrows out.
As the sport of bowfishing continues to grow in popularity, the bowfisherman naturally seeks inventive mechanisms and techniques to improve on the sport, increase the bowfisherman's productivity, and decrease the laborious aspects of the sport. The present disclosure is focused on such an inventive improvement.